Mexican Employees on Visa Program Sue Georgia Companies Over Underpaid Wages Under False Pretenses
A Mexican professional is suing three Georgia companies accused of abusing a visa program to import underpaid – and overqualified – manual labor under false pretenses.
Jorge Oswaldo Aquino Martinez was hired to set up production equipment and recommend process improvements at a Georgia auto parts manufacturer, among other tasks. Instead, he says he wound up working twelve-hour overnight shifts in the production line, where he helps install about 400 dashboards into cars each day. His $11-per-hour wage is allegedly less than the compensation earned by U.S. workers performing the same or similar work.
Martinez’s class action complaint filed Aug. 11 in Atlanta federal court claims at least 100 other Mexican engineers and technicians find themselves in a similar situation.
The suit seeks over $5 million in damages to compensate for the Mexican professionals’ “lost compensation … pain and suffering as a result of emotional distress, inconvenience, humiliation, and other indignities.”
